Why TNR?
Many people have asked me why I want to manage the colony through TNR, when it would be so much easier to simply have the cats destroyed, or ship them off somewhere else. Others have suggested more barbaric methods of dealing with the situation, which I won’t repeat here.
It would, of course, be nice to find homes for all of the cats, and have them live happily ever after, but that is simply not going to happen. Even if homes were found, most of these cats will never be pets. They are truly feral, and will not adapt to life indoors. Shipping the cats off somewhere else just opens the territory for a new batch of homeless felines. Ditto for euthanasia.
Truth be told, TNR, or, more accurately, TNVR (trap, neuter, vaccinate, return), is the only method that has ever been effective in controlling feral cat populations. Cats are territorial, and the sterilized cats protect their territory just as vigorously as they did when they were intact. This keeps new cats from moving into the area, while ensuring that the remaining adults do not reproduce. Over several years the numbers drop, due to natural causes, but the remaining adults still keep new cats from moving in. If one or two new ferals do appear, it is easy to identify them and make arrangements to trap and neuter them, as well.
Alley Cat Allies has excellent information on managing feral cat colonies, and TNR programs.
